The lightweight events were threatened in 2002 when the Programme Commission of the IOC recommended that, outside combat sports (boxing & wrestling, but not fencing, shooting, and archery) and weightlifting, there should not be weight-category events. The Executive Board overturned this recommendation and the lightweight rowing has been continued.

In the early games (1900 and 1904) there were several other categories of events (Junior, Novice, Association, and Intermediate). A number of other boat classes have made an appearance at several games (sometimes for a long time) but have been subsequently dropped – as recently as the 1990s. The primary loss has been in boats with coxwains, except for the eights, which have always been coxed. These were:

Today all races are raced over a 2000 m course, but this did not become standard before the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. Before this it was raced over various distances. In Paris in 1900 (1750 m), in St. Louis in 1904 (3218 m), in London in 1908 (2412 m), and again in London in 1948 (1850 m). The 1908 and 1948 were held over the Henley Royal Regatta course.

Women's races were raced over 1,000 meters until 1988 when they were changed to 2,000 meters.[4]

Early games featured match races between two or three boats (in 1952, between four or five boats).

The main qualification comes from the previous year's World Rowing Championships. Other qualifying events are called "Continental Qualification Regattas", of which four are held during the year preceding the games - Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Final (open to everyone else). Each year FISA issues details of how many crews qualify at each regatta.

At the World Championships, the top finishing boats guarantee a place for that country - the rowers in the crew can be changed before the games. At the qualification regattas, it is the crew that wins that qualifies for the Olympics, and if members of that crew race in the Olympics they must race in that event.